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Jose Mourinho has issued a scathing response to Pep Guardiola after the Man City boss reminded fans he has won twice as many Premier League titles as the Portuguese manager.
Guardiola made the comment while answering questions after his side’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend.
The 53-year-old raised six fingers to the Anfield crowd after the match, referring to his major trophy.
The image brought back memories of Mourinho, who famously raised three fingers to Chelsea and Tottenham fans during a defeat in the final days of his Manchester United tenure in 2018.
Mourinho was sacked months later and Guardiola asked if he could suffer the same fate.
The city manager replied, “I hope not in my case… He won three, I won six… but we are the same like that.
‘We are in those situations together. To let our fans know that we are much, much better than the people who sing that [Liverpool fans singing sacked in the morning]’.
‘It [the gesture] was just to make our fans feel like what we’ve done is extraordinary. I want to prove that we are an incredible football club. Sooner or later it will come to an end, but I will try to extend as much as possible for the best of my club.’
And Mourinho has clearly taken exception to the comment and hit back at the Spaniard.
The Fenerbahce manager said: “Guardiola said something to me yesterday. He won six trophies and I won three, but I won fair and square.
‘If I lost, I want to congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. I don’t want to win with 150 lawsuits.’
Mourinho was clearly referring to the 115 charges City are currently facing.
City face possible relegation from the Premier League following the 115 charges brought against them for allegedly breaching the English football body’s financial rules.
The proceedings, which began in September, were initially shrouded in mystery, before it was later revealed that they were being held at the International Dispute Resolution Center in London (IDRC), near St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London.
On Wednesday we saw Premier League lawyers Andrew Hunter KC and Adam Lewis KC from Blackstone Chambers make their way to the center for closing statements.
Should Lewis and his legal team prove that City are guilty of the most serious financial wrongdoing, the club could face serious penalties, such as relegation or a significant points deduction.
All 115 of City’s charges will be investigated, assessed and analyzed by an independent committee.